Nickelodeon’s most iconic characters

Kel Mitchell was part of the premiere All That cast and quickly became a fan-favorite for several characters on the Saturday Night Live-inspired show, including Ed. Ed was a dim yet lovable fast food worker who was always at the front register of Good Burger, a restaurant sketch that got so big it moved studios to make a movie. Then, in 2023, a long-awaited sequel for the sake of nostalgia was released, with Ed in the driver’s seat.

The titular character, Arnold was one of the coolest kids ever to grace Nickelodeon. Every ‘90s kid wanted to be him, but it was mostly because of his state-of-the-art room atop a sweet building his grandparents owned and operated as a border house.

Nickelodeon wasn’t just for the older kids. In the mornings, it opened itself up to teaching the toddlers stuck at home via Nick Jr., and leading that pack was a blue pup, rightfully named Blue.

SpongeBob SquarePants debuted right before the turn of the century and has been the network’s biggest show since, spawning a handful of movies, spinoffs, and an insane amount of merchandise.

Before she was Mel or even Sabrina, Melissa Joan Hart was Clarissa Darling, the lead in one of the network’s first live-action series. It was the first of its kind to feature a young female as the titular character, proving to studios how powerful young female fans are. In turn, Clarissa is to be thanked for paving the way for not only iCarly and Victorious later on Nickelodeon, but Lizzie McGuire, That’s So Raven, and Hannah Montana later on.

Once upon a time, Nickelodeon had more than its fair share of game shows that kids tuned into on the regular, including Legends of the Hidden Temple. While the human host, Kirk Fogg, was cool, the real star was the talking stonehead.

There were a few shows in the early days of Nickelodeon that, in hindsight, were likely meant for an older audience, like Rocko’s Modern Life. The jokes and settings could be wild, but at the end of the day, the heart of the show was as endearing as Rocko, the wallaby and show’s namesake.

There might be some arguments around this pick because Angelica leaned more toward villain than not on Rugrats, but who’s to say iconic always means “good guys"? So with that, the pint-sized mean girl takes the cake because while every baby and toddler is recognizable, Angelica was and is forever a Nickelodeon Baddie.

When the network started to get a little fancier, it debuted a computer-animated series about a boy genius named Jimmy Neutron. It was cutting-edge at the time but forever comical.

The real ones know that Keke Palmer has been that girl since her days running things on True Jackson, VP.

Before Hot Topic was a sea of Funko Pops and Disney merch, it was a store that served those with an alternative style — the goths, punks, and all those in between. In the '00s, it was also the home of one Nickelodeon character in particular: Invader Zim. Darker than its network peers, Zim was definitely for kids who weren’t feeling the more upbeat toons.

Josh might’ve come last in the title, but he remains first in the hearts of many who tuned into Drake & Josh. The show starred the titular characters as step brothers who couldn’t be more different, with Josh being a physical comedy whiz.

Tyra Banks popularized the “smize” (smiling with one’s eyes), but it was Dora who put “staring maniacally at the audience waiting for an answer” on the map.

A true two-for-one, but it’s impossible to take one and not the other when it comes to what is truly one of Nickelodeon’s wildest and raunchiest cartoons.

All That  produced many memorable characters, many of which were played by the icon of comedy herself, Amanda Bynes. Her most notable, though, was a pint-sized advice-giver named Ashley who had a very short fuse.

Nickelodeon was never afraid to tackle new genres and jumped into the fantasy realm big time with Avatar: The Last Airbender. The series’ lead, Aang, would go on to be one of the most popular characters on the network.

When Danny Phantom was canceled, fans showed up at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards and protested outside. That’s how much people loved that character.

The main character was Doug, and yeah, his blue best friend named Skeeter was really cool, but Patti Mayonnaise was the real queen bee of Bluffington. She has one of the coolest names ever, and her voice is forever iconic.

Some characters make absolutely zero sense, but that makes them all the more amazing. CatDog is most definitely one of those characters. And no. Don’t ask how they went, you know what.

The way millennials will never let Kel and his love of orange soda leave their psyche needs to be studied.

Miranda Cosgrove ate in the 2007 series that ran six seasons on Nickelodeon, and even on the 2021 Paramount+ reboot that continued the story for three more seasons. Back to the original, though, because iCarly truly was a product of its time, with Carly Shay being one of the OG vloggers. It debuted just two years after YouTube officially went online, so it’s safe to say Carly Shay inspired a generation of influencers.

Yo Gabba Gabba! is one of those shows a person just instantly gets or doesn’t. There’s no in-between, but those in the know - they know all too well that Muno was the Harry Styles of this crew. His charisma and eye-catching, red design made him stand out more than the others.